HERTY, CHARLES H. (CHARLES HOLMES), 1867-1938.
Charles H. Herty papers > Industrial consultant work

Scope and Content Note

In 1928, Herty resigned from the Chemical Foundation, Inc., to open a New York office as an industrial consultant. He wanted to encourage financial investments in existing southern industries and to develop industrial markets for southern agricultural products such as peanuts, flax and southern pines, and natural resources like Mud Lake in Florida. He also saw the potential of quick freezing methods to increase the market for southern fruits and vegetables. Most of his consulting work was done during the years 1928-1931. By 1932 he was committed to pine pulp research at the Savannah Pulp and Paper Laboratory, and in 1933 he reduced the size of his New York office. In 1935 he closed the office.

The series contains general correspondence, correspondence with state organizations, chambers of commerce, some correspondence with power companies, and Herty's letter files of southern timber lands available for industrial development. The next section concerns individual clients. These included, among others, the Industrial Committee of Savannah, the Timber Products Company of Cogdell, Georgia (in which Herty invested financially), and the Tom Huston Peanut Company. Herty corresponded extensively with George Rommel of the Industrial Committee of Savannah and with Alex Sessoms of the Timber Products Company.

Another section relates to various southern railroads. Herty cooperated with industrial agents and development services of these railroads to promote industry in the South. Much of the correspondence is with J. M. Mallory, a general industrial agent of the Central of Georgia Railway Company; with Poole Maynard, an industrial geologist for the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad Company; and to a lesser extent, with R. F. Montsalvatge of the Seaboard Air Line Railway Company. The series also contains general correspondence about industrial development in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia and miscellaneous papers concerning southern agricultural and industrial development.

Related material can be found in the following series: Series 1: General Correspondence; Series 12: Personal Papers, Mementoes and Memorabilia; and Series 15: Photographs.